CLEVELAND, Ohio — Dave Gilbert brings all sorts of people to town, from wrestlers to jump ropers.

The 44-year-old runs the Greater Cleveland Sports Commission and recently took over Positively Cleveland, too.

Q. So will that other Gilbert let you play at his casinos for free?

A. I'm no relation. But I probably get called Dan more than Dave.

Janet Kuiper is my executive assistant. She's no relation to the Indians' Duane Kuiper. But he still only hit one more homer than she did.

Q. Do visitors like us?

A. I'm fond of saying you can't fake being genuine. Clevelanders are extraordinarily genuine. We've had that comment time and time again from people looking to bring events to town.

Cleveland is a very big market but small enough to wrap itself around an event, with attendance and strong, committed volunteers. We're having the National Senior Games in 2013. We'll need several thousand volunteers, and we'll get them with smiles.

Q. What's a favorite memory from a local game?

A. In 2004, at the International Children's Games, a group of girls was the first sports team from Afghanistan to ever come to the U.S. These girls had never played soccer. They spent about a week with a nonprofit to teach them a little. They were playing a team from, I want to say Iceland. They were down 10 or 12 to 0 at the half. The other coach said, "Let's just split the teams and play." They had a great, great time. It showed the spirit of amateur athletics. It wasn't about embarrassing a team.

Q. When you're not staging sports, do you play any?

A. I grew up a tennis player at Heights High. My real passion the past 20 years has been distance events: marathons and ultramarathons.

I have a group of friends I ride bikes with and a group I run with. We live in Solon, a mile from South Chagrin. Within a mile, I can be on a trail and go for miles, up to the polo fields or right to Chagrin Falls.

We bike in the Chagrin Valley and the Cuyahoga Valley. I probably see the river more in the valley than downtown.

Q. Do visitors like our weather?

A. People expect some snow and cold in the northern U.S. Three seasons of the year the weather here is gorgeous. We do a big soccer tournament; I think we've had one day postponed because of rain in five years.

Q. How widely does Cleveland draw?

A. We have groups that keep coming from Barbados, Australia, some really interesting places. They're coming because they love the event and Cleveland. We have a guy in Kenya, he's become a proselytizer for Cleveland. We have multiple soccer and basketball teams from there because he's selling us.

Q. What's hot in Cleveland?

A. While Clevelanders don't think so, our downtown is really great. It's clean. It's very walkable. We've got the second-largest theater organization in the country and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

An official from Orlando said, "You have such an amazing downtown. I wish we had half of what you have." It's refreshing to hear.

I love walking people into the Arcade or the Huntington lobby or the old NCB lobby. The architecture we have in this community simply isn't built any more. We tell stories about Eliot Ness and Carl Stokes. There's phenomenal history here.

University Circle is another great place. We'll help them plan excursions. An hour and a half away is the biggest roller coaster concentration in the world, the Football Hall of Fame and Amish country.

Q. What's the hardest part of selling our city?

A. Clevelanders are so down on themselves. Their first question is, "Why are you here?" If we could change that attitude, we'd stop doing a lot of self-inflicted damage. Are there problems with our community? Absolutely, just as there are in many places around the country. Clevelanders have a hard time concentrating on the good things we have here.

Q. If there's one thing we love, it's sports, right?

A. We're one of the top sports communities in the country. It's a huge gathering point. Both our kids played every rec sport imaginable, so we hung out with the other parents.

Marching bands are a huge tradition here. When Solon and Hudson play, both marching bands do a number together. You've got about 500 kids on the field. It's so powerful.

Q. What could Cleveland do better?

A. We haven't done enough of looking at our community through a visitor's lens. The first phase of the casinos is estimated to bring 5 million people downtown. We have to make sure they have a great experience from the moment they step off the plane. Do we have the right signs? Some cities, you see "Welcome" in different languages. It shows that you're a community that international people visit.

Q. Have you ever moved away?

A. Other than college at Ohio State and about a year afterwards, I've lived here my whole life. I always wanted to come back to Cleveland. My folks still live in the same house since I was six months old. My dad's an interior designer. They take great care of it.

Q. What do you and Faith like to do with the kids?

A. A couple times a year we hang at the West Side Market. We also spend a lot of time in Chagrin Falls. It's a great place to go in the summertime and grab an ice cream cone and feed the ducks and just walk, sometimes through the neighborhoods.

Q. Besides being a conelicker, what do you like to eat?

A. I'm a big fan of Melt in Cleveland Heights: the Parmageddon with the pierogies and the best french fries anywhere. There's a place in Tremont: South Side. Their buffalo chili is the best on the planet. I do a lot on East Fourth Street. I love the summer when you can sit outside. It's so vibrant. It's only going to get better with the casinos and the convention center.

Q. What are some sports celebrities like in the flesh?

A. Billie Jean King was a really neat person, really dynamic, and Jim Brown was another. We didn't talk sports once. Their egos didn't come across. They weren't talking about themselves. It was just their philosophy of life.

For the most part, local players have connected with the community. People like Austin Carr or Campy Russell or Len Barker didn't grow up here. They're staying because they love the community. Mike Hargrove and his family made their home in Richfield. You love Bob Feller because he stayed so true to the community.

Follow Us

cleveland.com is powered by Plain Dealer Publishing Co. and Northeast Ohio Media Group. All rights reserved (About Us).The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Northeast Ohio Media Group LLC.